Smouldering
by Cleardil
Summary: Short angsty fic set immediately after Voldemort's defeat. How does Harry react to his victory and the loss of his love? (slight slash) What's the outcome and how is everyone changed?
1. still

Title: Smouldering (1/?)  
  
Author name: yeah.ok  
  
Category: Angst/Darkfic, slight H/D slash  
  
Keywords: harry, voldemort, sad  
  
Spoilers: nothing, everything.   
  
Rating: PG  
  
Summary: Short angsty fic set immediately after Voldemort's defeat. How does Harry react to his victory and the loss of his love? (slight slash) What's the outcome and how is everyone changed?  
  
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  
  
Authors Note: I know these fics have been done before, but I had this thing that wouldn't let go until I wrote it and it doesn't fit in my other work in progress. So please review and tell me what you think of my interpretation.  
  
*~*  
  
  
A silence had fallen over the crowd.   
There was no cheering and no celebrations.  
  
And in the centre standing quiet and still was the Boy Who Lived. Saviour to the wizarding world - again.  
  
He had never asked for it. Never asked for the glory or fame, never asked for the trials and heartache. He had never asked to be needed.  
  
Except by one person.   
His lover, his friend, his soulmate.  
  
Harry was so tired.   
The last battle - The Great Victory as it would later be called, was over.   
Harry had won.   
He had defeated the last Dark Lord - Voldemort.  
  
He was dimly aware of the large crowd that was emerging from their shelters and safe houses but he could see nothing except the damage he had caused.   
There were smouldering remnants of once great buildings, they were peoples' homes and peoples' lives, lying destroyed and almost obliviated.  
  
Yet there was no weeping.  
For this was not their moment.  
  
  
Their hero dropped his head.  
  
  
Harry could not breathe.   
Although he tried, he could not lift his head again and see what he had done to these people purely because it was his duty.  
If he had had a choice, he would have ran and hid under the nearest rock. But these things flocked to him.  
Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived.  
Again.  
It was expected.  
  
  
He shut his eyes and remembered.  
The hissing voice. It was Evil and so cold.  
The flashes of spells. Dark Arts - aiming to destroy.  
  
Harry had not been injured badly.  
He certainly didn't feel any pain.  
Except for the incessant aching in his chest. In his heart.  
  
For He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named;  
As Harry would never speak his name again.  
Had achieved his aim. He had destroyed The Boy Who Lived.  
From the inside out.  
  
  
Looking up, Harry saw the sky was blue. A clear and crystal blue.  
"That's not right." He whispered to himself. Shouldn't the sky be gray and hung with despair? Like all of those movies he'd seen.  
  
Hearing Harry talk, still no one moved. His simple statement touched them all.   
"That's not right."  
  
He hadn't really reacted at all yet.  
No one moved.  
  
  
"It's not fair." He whispered with tears beginning to leak out of his emerald green eyes. Those eyes that held so much.   
"I've lost everything."  
  
"Everything!" he shouted at the sea of people.  
"Everything for a world who doesn't know me, and sees nothing more to me than 'Harry Potter'," he spat, "The Boy Who Lived."   
"And through it all, that's still all I am to you." he was talking now, his head upright - addressing the crowd. His eyes dark and accusatory.  
"I swear, if my name is ever, EVER printed again - any where. And if anyone EVER stops me in the street again and shakes my hand..." Harry paused and simply left the threat hanging like ugly curtains around them forever.  
  
With that he knelt.  
And saw in his hand that he still clutched his wand.  
  
How could this beautiful thing, this thing that had been Harry's saviour and took him away from his life at Privet Drive, how could it have done this?  
And how could they have asked him to?  
How dare they.  
  
  
Without a word, Harry calmly snapped his wand in two.  
And with one last final spell from its pieces, it set itself on fire and burnt.  
Now, it was nothing more than smouldering ashes.   
It seemed only fitting that his wand should become like that around it.  
Only remnants of the glory it was.  
  
  
Harry took his dragon's still hand and apparated away.  
  
And still, no one moved.  
Everyone heard a voice from within the crowd.  
Simply it stated,  
"Look what we have done,"  
"To him."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**Elea  
  
  
The Chapter/Fic has now ended 


	2. goodbye

Title: Smouldering (2/?)  
  
Author name: yeah.ok   
  
Category: Angst/Darkfic, slight H/D slash  
  
Keywords: harry, voldemort, sad  
  
Spoilers: nothing, everything.   
  
Rating: PG  
  
Summary: We're doing a little flashbacking in this chapter. Short angsty fic set immediately after Voldemort's defeat. How does Harry react to his victory and the loss of his love? (slight slash) What's the outcome and how is everyone changed?  
  
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  
  
Authors Note: Well, chapter one was originally a stand alone fic - but I was asked to continue so let's see how it plays out. Sorry it's a lot more soppy, but what's a girl to do? The boy has to grieve!   
*sniff*  
I hope it works, tell me what you think!  
Enjoy.  
  
"Believe these words, and you'll feel what I feel."  
  
  
---- that means it's a flashback bit; and then the end of that bit.  
  
  
*~*  
PREVIOUS CHAPTER END:  
  
Harry took his dragon's still hand and apparated away.  
  
And still, no one moved.  
Everyone heard a voice from within the crowd.  
Simply it stated,  
"Look what we have done,"  
"To him."  
  
*~*  
Chapter 2  
  
  
Draco's body was still warm.  
There were no scars or traces of pain.  
He looked peaceful, calm, serene.  
Harry couldn't imagine life without him.  
But here it was.  
  
He was Harry's sleeping dragon.  
They look magnificent and proud, and couldn't hurt a fly,  
But when they awake...look out!  
  
Still grasping Draco's hand,   
Harry knew he wasn't asleep.  
Harry's lover, friend, soulmate.  
  
  
-------  
Here, at this place  
Draco had confessed his love to Harry.  
They were on a cliff top  
the highest point for as far as the eye could see.  
  
The place had reflected the moment perfectly.  
"Harry..." Draco stopped and Harry just smirked.  
*Thwap*  
"Dammit Harry! You're killing the moment here."  
Draco flushed.  
  
At that, Harry had taken pause and looked around him.  
They were on a cliff top  
the highest point for as far as the eye could see.  
The long grass flowed in the wind, much like the rhythm of the ocean below.  
  
It was purity and ecstasy.  
"Harry, I love you."  
~With all my being~  
  
If someone had been standing there alone, they would have seemed small and insignificant.  
Standing there together,  
They were nothing less than mighty.  
  
------  
  
~  
Harry laughed bitterly to himself.  
"And how they have fallen."   
He dried his tears and rocked back on his haunches.  
  
"You know, you really can be a bastard Draco."  
  
"You always had to be one up on me." Harry kissed his hand.  
"There I was saving the WORLD, and you had to go and save...me."  
  
  
The place reflected the moment perfectly.  
Here at least the sky was grey.  
It was overcast, murky  
And sad.  
  
  
The weeping began.  
  
They wept for Draco and Harry.  
They wept for everything lost.  
They wept for their fears.  
They wept for their relief.  
But mostly  
Each person wept for themselves.  
Left smouldering.  
Feeble reminders of what was before.  
  
  
Harry lay on his stomach with his chin in his hands.  
Just looking.  
Blinking out from under his fringe of unruly raven hair.  
A few wisps dangling in front of him.  
Harry felt strange.  
He couldn't explain the feeling that assailed him through the tumultuous events.  
  
Somewhere, deep in the back of Harry's mind, he knew he wasn't fully comprehending what had happened.  
This knowledge only succeeded in making him further upset.  
  
~  
Harry was trying to think of what to do next.  
Hell, Narcissa had died the year before last and Lucius didn't acknowledge he had a son anymore.  
- Draco had asked to be disowned.  
He loved his parents more than anything, but not what they believed in.  
  
It was so hard for Draco,  
but Harry was there.  
  
  
Therefore, there was no-one to contact who wouldn't already have found out.  
After all, it isn't *every* day that Light conquers Dark.  
A few - sure, but not every day.  
And not like this.  
Never like this.  
  
It was though the world outside this place had stopped existing.  
For there was nothing to do.  
  
"I suppose it's better this way," he addressed Draco's form. "I don't mean to sound cocky or anything," Harry's voice broke, "but where would you be without me?"  
He broke down.  
Harry cried so hard his body shook.  
Each sob racking through him in such a pain he felt as though he'd never breathe again.  
He hugged Draco's body to him - as though the power of his love could bring him back to Harry.  
  
-------  
"Harry, I love you."  
  
Draco wasn't really sure what to do.  
He ducked his head and then held Harry's eyes.  
To Harry, this was the most wonderful gesture.  
Almost as though he wasn't sure Harry would love him back.  
  
They had never been an overly affectionate couple in public.  
So much so, that sometimes people questioned their relationship completely.  
But coming from their respective lives,  
  
a simple hand held under a table  
or a private gaze, when they thought no-one was looking  
  
Was all that was needed.  
It was perfectly expressed.  
  
Draco shifted,   
The silence was too long.  
"Uh," he said - retrieving Harry from his thoughts.  
And Harry's eyes twinkled.  
Draco felt embarrassed  
and close to heart broken.  
Love was hard to come by  
and extremely hard to give.  
  
Looking away, he felt Harry's arms snake around his waist and pull him close.  
"Believe these words," Harry breathed in his ear, "and you'll feel what I feel."  
Draco relaxed into Harry's embrace - his hair against Harry's cheek.  
Harry spoke,  
  
"I already knew."  
  
  
Draco grinned to himself. So relieved and incredibly happy.  
That was something he remembered forever.  
That one undeniable emotion.  
bliss  
  
He laughed and Harry stepped back to look at him quizzically.  
"What?" he said.  
Amidst elated chuckling, Draco threw his arms around Harry's neck and delivered a quick kiss. "I already knew you knew!"  
  
That was their love.  
Private and perfect.  
  
"And that's why we fit so well." Harry replied  
  
------  
  
~  
Harry brought Draco's hand to his lips one last time.  
Crying, he took Draco's wand, then the chain from around his neck and the ring from his finger.  
  
Harry then clutched Draco to him and walked to the cliff's edge.  
  
Looking down into the sea he knew this was what Draco would have wanted.  
Something private.  
For his final resting place to be here, at this place.  
Their place.  
  
Seeing the churning sea below, Harry's sobs grew louder.  
He couldn't bear to let Draco go.  
And then to watch him fall - lifeless - into the smudge that was growing blacker as twilight diminished.  
To never see his form again...it was too much.  
It couldn't be happening.  
  
  
Taking a deep breath, Harry took one more moment to remove the chain from his own neck, and place it around Draco's neck.  
  
The chains were the first gift the two boys had ever exchanged. Only a flimsy token of a new relationship, but they held so much meaning for both Harry and Draco.  
Something to show the world they were together.  
The same, but different.  
  
  
With the last rays of sun glinting off Harry's chain around Draco's neck, Harry let him go.  
The chains were the last gift the boys had ever exchanged.  
A simple token.  
  
  
They would take each other with them.  
Wherever, forever.  
  
  
Before he left, Harry took Draco's wand and selected a pure grey rock.  
Bending down, he transfigured a small statue.  
  
It was a tiny dragon.  
It's wings unfurled in a gesture of freedom.  
On it's base Harry carved,  
  
Draco  
With all my being  
  
At this place, forever.  
but always by my side  
  
  
  
And Harry left it there - one figure, but mighty.  
  
"I love you." he whispered into the night.  
And with that, he apparated away.  
Home.  
To see what was still standing along side him.  
  
  
  
  
**Elea  
  
Thanks for reviewing!!!!  
I really appreciate your comments.  
I hope you liked this chapter.  
I know it's different to the other one. I don't like it as much - possibly too emotional and doesn't make much sense, but that's how the story followed on.  
I'm pretty sure this is THE END now. so, yeah.(ok!)  
  
  
The Chapter/Fic has now ended 


End file.
